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Friday, November 30, 2012

For the players of the popular 7Seas fishing game, the twice a year event all about rods and reels is on it's way: the 7Seas Fall Fishing Festival. Sit down in one of the many fishing shacks, or take a boat out. Or you can head out to the party island. The event's for a good cause too. Some special items will be auctioned off for a childrens' charity.

Grey Lupindo recently spent some time in an historical Japanese area in Second Life. Japan Chubu is set in Japan's Edo period, known for it's samurai, and Grey looked at one of the villages. Grey met and talked to two women with different roles in the area, one of whom she sat down and interviewed.Read Grey's account in Places.

Hyper Mole first logged in Second Life on May 22, 2010, and was a member of the Bay City Alliance and Linden Department of Public Works groups.

Among the builds she took part in are the Bay City Community Center, the Falmouth Hotel, Hairy Hippo Fun Land, Wellington Road, Crumbi train station, NCI's volcano path, and took part in seasonal events in Bay City and "infrastructure work" at the seventh and eighth Second Life birthday celebrations.

A memorial wreath was set up for Hyper at the Bay City Community Center at Daley Bay (232, 65, 24). More pictures of Hyper Mole can be found Here.

Today, we offer a new feature for Second Life Newser: an advice column in the tradition of "Dear Abby" from DrFran Babcock: "Ask DrFran." If you have a people question about Second Life such as questions about virtual relationships or disputes with friends, DrFran will provide a little advice on how to handle the matter.

DrFran Babcock has seen a number of places in Second Life, some less well known than others. While good sims usually get attention, she thought of two that she felt didn't quite get the attention they deserve. They are Solitude Bluff for conversation, and the Caves of Ethereal Teal for meditation.

On Sunday Nov 25, Patriot Island held it's monthly Wounded Warrior fundraiser. From 4PM to just after 9PM SL time, four live musicians and a DJ performed at the stage in the sim's hangar building. The event was attended by up to a few dozen at the sim at once.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend folks. The monthly Wounded Warriors benefit is tonight ...and right now Waya Snowpaw is doing it up big time! … Come on out and give thanks by donating to our Veterans and support those who give us our freedom!

The Lindens slowly built up over time. The cash raised was displayed in the two upside down helmet collection jars on each side of the performers stage. As the musicians played, the listeners danced below. DJ Waya Snowpaw, PonDman Haalan, Paul Nowles, Frets Nirvana & Chapman Zane performed. Frets Nirvana had helped organize the event, on occasion offering to match donations made by listeners, "Got a-ways to go folks. I will put another 1k in if someone else will." Dahlea Milena, who helps run the sim, encouraged people to donate. GJackie Winkler helped give thank you for those donating.

The fundraising goal for the night was 275,000 Lindens, "We have sent over $10,000 RL to Wounded Warriors this year" Frets explained to the audience, "We want to send $12000, we need 275k linden to stay on target."

By 5:30, 29,000 had been raised. By 6, the amount had gone up to 49,000. By 6:30, the amount was over 72,000, which went up to 83,350 in a few minutes. By 6:40 the 100,000 mark had been passed. Donations continued throughout the night. Finally at 8:56 the amount was 271,000 Lindens. Someone then chipped in 4,000 to bring the amount to the 275,000 goal. GJackie Winkler, "Rght now we are at 275,851L, !Wow! You all are so wonderful, big huge huggsss!" Frets Nirvana added, "Excellent, just absolutely excellent folks!"

As the minutes went by, people continued to chip in, "278k!" "Let's see 300K." The musician at the end, Chapman Zane, continued on for a few more minutes, finishing with a "Yehaa!" followed by "Folks, I want to thank you all very much. … you all are wonderful."

The total amount raised at the conclusion of the event was 304,851 Lindens. Following the change of the music stream back to radio, Chapman explained, "I think the WW's program is great. It's a way for us to give back to those that gave for us." Dahlea added, "I think everyone did an incredible effort here tonight. The musicians and their fans are a HUGE part of this, their support for our Wounded Warriors is just so heartwarming and Frets is just absolutely the best at organizing this and putting in so much effort gathering all this great talent and his own time & talent too, I'm absolutely so very very grateful for all the hard work he puts into this." (smile)

Second Life Newser received a nomination recently. It was among several publications to be nominated for the "Avi Choice Awards" in Second Life.

The Avi Choice Awards is the premier annual awards presentation
recognizing the people and talent of Second Life’s amazing creations,
completely chosen and voted on by SL residents. The 2011 Avi Choice
Awards response was tremendous and the websites saw an amazing 35,000
visits and a staggering number of votes. This year we expect even more.

The Newser was nominated for the category "Favorite Magazine, Newspaper, or Periodical," which was in the "Entertainment" nominations. Some people, places, and groups familiar to readers were also nominated, such as Fuzzball Ortega for favorite DJ, Jaycatt and Frogg for favorite musical duet, and T-1 Radio for favorite radio station. The news was also announced in a notice in Steelhead.

"The Avi Choice Awards is presented each year at the Christmas Expo, a holiday event to benefit the American Cancer Society. And yes, the Steamlands are well represented, including the citizens of Steelhead City listed as 'Favorite SL Group.' Read and vote for your favorite."

Residents have until December 12 at 8PM to vote.

Click Here and scroll down to about the level of the Relay for Life symbol to vote for the Newser.

Thanksgiving is gone, and this week November changes to December, and Fall events began to change to Winter ones with the Winterzone and Winter Wonderland events in the London areas. And besides those, there's our usual assortment of book and poetry readings, races, DJ music and live music parties, talk shows, and church services.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Recent events in the news included the latest eruption of violence between Israel and the Palestinians with the launching of rockets into the former from Gaza. It isn't just in the news that one can find Arabs and Israeli's bickering. There's a sim in Second Life owned by residents supporting Palestinian resistance, made as a place to display propaganda.

Gemma Cleanslate recently attended the recently rebuilt Palais Orleans art gallery. The new complex is actually three galleries plus a courtyard. She looked the place and it's exhibits over, and offers her view.

The Relay for Life group chat has no shortage of funny moments. One
prime example was one boast by Stingray Raymaker about wearing pantyhose
next year if enough was raised that became known as "Stingray's Challenge." More recently was this bit of chat that began with a phrase that probably won't soon be forgotten.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Earlier this month, New Bastogne had a contest that was the bomb, literally. Three aircraft producers, along with the sim's German air group held a bombing competition, and about a dozen men and women stepped forward to participate. Some pilots were on-target, while others just made holes next to the tank.

A machinima made by a "Pep Lemmon" in 2011, showing a number of locations. Note AM Radio's classic locations early in the video.

"Music and video by Pep Lemmon. This machinima was filmed in several well known locations in the virtual world of Second Life.

"In
the second half of the video I played a little bit with some tweaks
that you can find in the advanced menu in Phoenix viewer. Thanks to all
the amazing builders and sim creators who make possible filming in such
wondeful locations."

Friday, November 23, 2012

In her blog, Second Life artist Bryn Oh announced her popular exhibition "Virginia Alone" would soon be closing. She is working on a new exhibit, and In order to finish and build it on her Immersiva sim she has to make room available. So to make room for the new, the older "Virginia" house will be removed.

I am working on a new build called Imogen and the Pigeons which
requires me to delete Virginia Alone as I have just about run out of
prims. I am going to leave it up until December 1st. Time flies and I
still have a few more projects I would like to accomplish on Immersiva. ...
I would like to thank everyone who sent kind messages to Virgina
through me. When I went to visit her she was really touched that people
from around the world, whom she didn't know, would send her good
wishes.

"Virginia Alone" was made in June, and since then has gotten rave reviews from the critics, and thousands of visits from residents. The exhibit is about a lone, blind, elderly lady in her house dealing with bouts of schizophrenia, knowing something's wrong with her but not exactly what. Health advocates have talked about the exhibition as well as art critics, saying it's helped remind residents of mental illness.

The exhibit is scheduled to close on December 1st. Until then, one can see it at Immersiva (21, 127, 21).

Can you believe it is that time again? Time to do Christmas decorating! The
Corner is loaded with Christmas trees, wreaths, a full skating rink ,
snowmen, sleds, and so much more to help you decorate your home or business. The
best part is that all the items are free.

As usual Vickijo Rivera had arranged
to have her creators place them for those who can use them, as she says, “Each
of us has a special talent in this world and this group is for both creators and
for those that just 'dig in the dirt' and enjoys anothers' gifts that give
freely. Amor Fati! (love of fate)” Not only do group members get to
gather goods but anyone can come and collect the offerings.

If you would
like to join the group for future notices you are very welcome to do so. Right
now there is a weekly raffle still going on for members. After you pick up all
your free decor take a walk up the stairs in the building to the second floor
where you will find the raffle information. I will be looking for more decor for
you as the season goes on. Thanks to Pink and Zain and Saucy for the wonderful
sim and contents. They caretake the sim for all of us to enjoy. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ophelia/193/191/22

"In my humble opinion, the only justification
for doxxing (I'm used to calling it outing, but I guess that was a
different era) is to a) prevent a suicide, murder or other heinous
bodily crime, and b) expose real life child molesters/rapists to the
authorities.

"This is the only time I'll cross that line -- to save lives. If
someone is bragging about stealing a car, how do I know he isn't talking
about playing Grand Theft Auto? But someone has pics of naked children
in their SL home, yeah, I'll call the cops and tell them anything I
know.

"The difficulty comes in knowing whether or not someone is honestly
suicidal or not. You have to actually know the person well to make this
judgement call. Likewise with the question of murder -- I'm sure my wife
has said she's gonna kill me when I get home countless times. That's
not enough to summon the long arm of the law. Someone talking about X or
Y property crime may just be talking about some game they play, just
like someone overhearing you talking about AD&D game and the woman
you slowly slaughtered with a glaive to get the information you needed
("Hello? Police? Listen, there's a couple of nerds talking about
mutilating some poor girl...")

"I won't out people just because they are talking smack about some
property crime. But, if I believe them when they talk about a rape or
murder or suicide or other bodily crime, that's when I have to make the
harsh decision. I've had to make the call a handful of times: a few, the
police got there in time. One, the guy wasn't really suicidal and
didn't appreciate the police hassling him."

"And one time, I didn't make the call because I didn't believe Hitz was really suicidal -- I was wrong."

This Thanksgiving season, Areo Pines Park has been having some fun with it's annual Pow Wow. Starting on November 16th, the sims have been the scene of parties and dancing around, in addition to some canoeing and the horseback riding the sim has every day.

Holocluck Henley decided to have a little Thanksgiving fun at his Starship Diner in Second Life. So he got a turkey for the place. Animated, if one gets close, it runs away. Guess it knows what season it is. ;-)

After several days offline due to a technical glitch, reporter Gemma Cleanslate is back in business. Last weekend, she attended an exhibition of a new group on the Grid, "Culture and Fun." They were showing off a number of paintings by Pan Yuliang, China's first modern artist.

Areo Pines Park & Recreation Area has been the scene of some Thanksgiving fun. On Friday November 16th, They launched their Sixth Annual Thanksgiving Pow Wow, with people dancing around in Pilgrim and Indian avatars, "Warning: this party has been too much fun in the past, so please celebrate and party responsibly! Turkeys and other fowl attend at their own risk!"

The festivites will go on until the 25th.

The full article will be later, or if you're in a hurry to see the fun, head to Equus (18, 241, 22)

A new Premium gift is now available! Go Premium today
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Zoom around and perform high-speed aerial stunts and acrobatics such as
loops, barrel rolls, hard dives and climbs.Take off in Orville, a
Premium-only airfield where you can fuel up your airplane, spend some
hangar time with your other flying friends, socialize in the airfield
building lobby or watch over the skies from the control tower!

While
this plane may be a single-seat aircraft that doesn't mean you can't
bring some friends along -- you just might want to tell them to hold on!The airplane is available to Premium Residents only. To access the exclusive Orville Airport, you must be a Premium member,
so don’t delay! Additional Premium benefits include a private home,
Linden dollars, as well as expanded support. Take flight and take
advantage this limited-time half-off promotion today.* Already Premium? Get it here.

Linden Lab also urged residents to "For a limited time, take advantage of 50% off Premium Membership."

There was no mention of the plane or airfield on the official forums, but it was mentioned in the Second Life Universe forum. One resident posting there remarked, "on a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 3.5." On the plus side, "Looks great," "Simple usage," Beginner mode takes a minimal amount of effort/practice to get used to," "The propellor actually spins, as opposed to a spinning texture," "I like the subtle trailing smoke." Among the cons, "When crossing a sim border, it repeats the last control input," "It doesn't tell you that you can now click the body of the plane for options," "Whether you're idle or full-throttle, it sounds the same."

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

This week in Second Life, thoughts turn to Thanksgiving and fall festivities. Areo Pines and Tribute City are among those having tributes to the American holiday of turkey dinners and autumn. Besides the holiday events, look for regularly scheduled happenings of live music and DJ parties, book and poetry readings, races, church services, and talk shows.

Machinima Expo Jury Prize Winners: "The Last Syllable of Recorded Time" by Tutsy Navarathna, "Metasex" by Tutsy Navarathna, "Unfinished Paintings (Dreaming in New Orleans) by Miron Lockett, "Wulf and Eadwacer" by Hypatia Pickens

Made by London Junkers and Lizzie Gudkov, this three-dimensional tribute to the famous cubist painting by Picasso is in the Linden Endowment of the Arts sim LEA6.

In 1937 Spanish painter Pablo Picasso created one of the most important icons of the 20th century when he made the Guernica. Painted in black and white, depicting the horrors of war, it is today as solid and modern as it was when it was first shown in the 1937 International Fair in Paris.The intention of re-creating this masterpiece in Second Life comes from the love for the original mural itself and what it represents. After a lot of thought and experimenting with external 3d software, a decision was made, this installation would be built only in prims, as an exercise of the possibilities that LEA has given us. With this piece, we would like to pay homage to Picasso and let visitors learn more from it.

Three tips were given for better viewing, using mouselook, setting draw distance higher, and turning "atmospheric shaders" higher.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Second Life Newser has a new writer, DrFran Babcock, whom many of you know through her blog "Dr Fran Does SL." Today, we present her article on the "Of Sound Mind" art exhibition that opened at the Linden Endowment of the Arts sims this weekend. This exhibit has an emphasis on sounds, and is the result of a team of artists working together. So did everything work in harmony? DrFran offers her observations.

Perri Prinz is looking for a manager for the Green Meadows Club. Originally named club Xanadu, it was later renamed Green Meadows after a club in Perri's stories to avoid possible trouble with the makers of the movie. But her friends have continued to call it "Perri's Xanadu." The club itself was made as a tribute to the music of the 60s & 70's. Perri herself is known for having a great collection of music from the time period, though is currently taking a break from DJing.

It is requested that those applying to be manager be familiar with the music of the 60's and 70's, as well as the 80's. Perri is flexible as to what hours the manager can run events, though there is the goal of coordinating with other clubs of the FCA, the club alliance Green Meadows is part of.

Green Meadows is jointly owned by Perri Prinz and RECoyote Minds, and is at HV Community (67, 207, 4051)

Some sad news for the fans of the MadPea gaming area. The doctor game "Virtual Medical Doctor" is set to be closed soon. On December 23rd, it's scheduled to fade away into the electronic nether. Kiana Writer mentioned the reason in a group chat, "Our sponsor is cutting down, so we're losing an island."

Second Life Newser has gotten several inquires from people asking if there's been an article published about anything in Second Life concerning secessionist petitions in the United States by individuals for a number of states to withdraw from the authority of the Federal government. So far, none of the Second Life Newser reporters has heard anything.

This is where you the readers come in. If you've heard of an upcoming demonstration in Second Life by residents calling for a state in America to break away from the Union, or of a political discussion, let us know about it. If the event has already taken place, we'd appreciate a story or a few pictures, preferably both.

On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture
submitted to us by one of the readers. Not just about this subject, but about any on the Grid, within reason. Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went
to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL"
predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say.
Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a
Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

PLEASE include
your Second Life name, and let us know if you wish it included in the
story. Also ask permission before using anyone's name or picture, or use
an alias.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.Second
Life Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section and
to investigate any names used in submitted stories.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

From Draxtor Despress and Pooky Amsterdam, "It is that time of year again: American voters are asked to pick their
president. But never mind real life: Democracy can be messy in the
virtual realm as well....and campaigns can be even messier: watch as a
certain gaggle of avatars is trying to win over the ever important &
elusive [and often cranky] undecided voter! Hilarity ensues? Maybe...if
things were not that serious....."

Friday, November 16, 2012

It's been almost two years since Ozimals, the creators of the breedable bunny that was all the rage in Second Life for a time, ended up in court against Amaretto, known for it's horses that remain popular today. For those who don't remember, the trouble began in December 2010 when Ozimals filed a DMCA against
Amaretto saying the scripts for Amaretto horses resembled those of
Ozimals bunnies, and Amaretto responded with a counter-DMCA and
copyright lawsuit. Later, the judge issued a temporary restraining order
on Linden Lab against issuing a DMCA on Amaretto. The following month, he “granted an injunction that only applies to Ozimals' sending of takedown
notices and makes no reference to restrictions on Second Life.”

The "bunneh versus horsie" lawsuit, which besides being a real life case involving virtual goods had the distinction of being presided by Charles R. Breyer, the brother of a Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (Hamlet Au mused that there's likely to be a few jokes about the case in family conversation over the Holidays). Following the injunction in January 2011, nothing was heard about the case until this month. Tateru Nino reported that on November 5th, Judge Breyer made a summary judgement on the case.

Ozimals lacks standing to pursue its counterclaim, and so the Court GRANTS IN PART Amaretto’s Motion for Summary Judgment as to the counterclaim. Because Amaretto has not established a reasonable likelihood of facing copyright infringement liability, the Court finds that Amaretto lacks standing to pursue its remaining claims; it also finds that the possibility of harm is so speculative that the Court would not exercise its discretion to rule on he declaratory relief claims even if the threshold standing requirements were met. Accordingly, the Court DENIES IN PART Amaretto’s motion for summary judgment as to the declaratory judgment and copyright misuse claims, and DISMISSES those claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Amaretto claims the ruling as a victory for them, posting the "ruling vindicates Amaretto and permanently prevents Ozimals from
asserting its previously claimed copyright on Amaretto or any other
entity." There has been no comment on the Ozimals blog.

Hamlet Au's article on the case got number of comments, including one by Pussycat Catnip, whom remarked, "Summary
judgements are ultra rare. They only occur when the situation is so
obvious, the court finds there is no need for a trial. That's something
Courts normally cannot Constitutionally do. To get one, the other side
has to have essentially conceded the floor. ... whatever evidence was put forth, was deemed worthless."

It seems that this case is all but over, Tateru thinking, "it doesn’t look like Judge Breyer is going to have all that much left to
rule on to finalize this case. It may drag on a little longer, but not that much longer ..." The general opinion on the Grid seems to have been that Ozimals had started the mess to begin with due to its market crash after months of being wildly popular, and went after the new top breedable pet by trying to use the power of the Lindens.

Hamlet Au thought that this case would establish a precedent for similar cases. Though this was a case in which the evidence was "worthless." One in which the accuser has a more solid claim is likely to go in it's own direction.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Last week on November 6th, it was time for American voters to head to the polls in real life. And in Second Life, some politically-minded residents went to certain places to watch and discuss the results. So were the winners gracious in their victory, or did the Democratic donkey make an "ass" out of itself? Were those in second place take it like a champion, or did the Republican elephant vow to never forget what happened?

Recently,
Second Life Newser was contacted by a reader about a development in the
Grid's science-fiction community. CBS, the owners of the copyrights of
the "Star Trek" franchise, has been going after Trek items being sold in
Second Life. We got in touch with one maker of these goods, in addition
to a member of a sci-fi group, to see what has been going on, and how
this will affect Second Life.

Grease Coakes' latest article is a little on the fast track as he takes his need for speed to Racer Island Raceways. With fifteen racetracks, there's all kinds of high speed challenges. There's also a weekly demolition derby. Grease gives the roads a try, and talks to owner Eddie Mathieson.

"On November 14, Diabetes Agent will host an all-day Diabetes Awareness
Event and Conference in Second Life, featuring moderated discussions
with Second Life Residents, exercise sessions, a cooking demo, and a
dance party with a live DJ. The event will run from 7 a.m.to 7 p.m.
(Pacific) at the Diabetes Guidance Center."

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

It's a week full of events in Second Life. Tomorrow is the Diabetes Awareness Event and Conference. This Friday, the Machinima Expo 2012 begins. Tribute City hosts a Harvest Month. And there is our list of regularly scheduled live and DJ music events, races, talk shows, book and poetry readings, and church services.

Steelhead and explosions seem to go hand in hand. But Friday Nov. 9 had something new. Their Friday Night party had the explosive theme of Guy Fawkes Day. And the Steelheaders showed up to celebrate the British holiday with an American Steampunk mad scientist "blowout."

Beginning tomorrow, Linden Labs will be rolling out some changes across the grid in the code for groups that will affect ALL viewers being used in SL right now - including the SL viewers. The rollout should be completed by Friday

What it means is that you will be unable to access the member lists in any group with 10,000 or more in the group.

You will still be able to get group chat. You will be able to send group notices and invite people to join the group if your group role allows it.

You will be unable to assign a role and you will be unable to eject anyone from the group since you will not have access to that particular individual's name. If you are a moderator in the group, you will be unable to exercise any mod abilities such as taking away chat privileges for the same reason..

The SL viewer should be updated soon. Firestorm will be updated but the timeline is unsure at this point (hopefully this weekend but that's not a sure thing yet).

We have no information about any of the other viewers at this time.

Addition: Daniel Voyager reported the reason for the code changes, "The new code changes will fix groups using HTTP which makes it
more reliable for loading and editing for 10k+ members in SL groups.
This is a switch-over from the old UDP which is not that great for
handling large groups with 10k+ members. Its slow loading and harder to
edit things with additional issues within groups."

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Man blazed for one last time this year at Burn2 as the
Skin Burn was held on the playa Saturday, and attendees wore only skin! NO
scripts or attachments were allowed. All had a great time dancing around
and watching as the flames spread up the Man, and then, we jumped on the
remaining cinders as on a pyre and danced some more!

Book Island recently held a "Charity Trivia Contest" for a Second Life resident whom was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. The event was mentioned in a group announcement as hosted by Dedee Longfall, "Help Rain Weather the Storm."

We'll be hosting this event at our studio and we'd like to invite all of you and your friends to come over for an hour. The event is for a lovely SL kitty and talented RL woman, Rain Ninetails, who lost everything in Hurricane Sandy. There'll be plenty of off the wall trivia for an hour AND you can win prizes too! Rain has been a long time SL builder and much beloved member of the Trivia community in-world. Please stop by and join us for a bit of laughter, friendly competition, and a chance to help out an SL neighbor. All donations go STRAIGHT to Rain :-)

Dropping by the event, there were about a dozen avatars over. The donation jar had over 110,000 Lindens at the time, or over 400 US dollars. All the while, Dede read out the trivia questions, in which the winners got prizes, "Back when stagecoaches existed as the pinnacle of transport, the seat immediately next to the driver was reserved for individuals acting as a guard. Such a strategic spot allowed the protectors to better ward off any bandits attempting to loot passengers." "Shotgun." "Shotgun!" "Shotgun!" "Riding shotgun As engineering marched on into motor vehicles, the vernacular designation for the coveted spot stayed the same."

The tip jar will remain at Book Island, "it will stay here for the week. I'll put it on the dock." The event was held at Book Island (133, 2, 24)

A few other locations have held Hurricane Sandy benefits. Even World of Warcraft is getting into the act with plans to offer a "fire kitten" for sale with a promise the cash goes to relief efforts.